Health And Safety Statement

 

The purpose of the Health and Safety statement is to provide guidelines for staff and other relevant parties on safety procedures in Lisaniskey NS. It outlines the responsibilities of management and staff in ensuring our school is safe for all children and employees in the school, in so far as is reasonably practical.

 

1.0 How the Health and Safety of the employees of our school will be ensured

 

The Board of Management will:

• Appoint from within the Board a Health and Safety Officer who will oversee the implementation of the Health and Safety policy (current officer: Mr. Dervan.)
• Organise training for staff on Health and Safety, Fire Drill, and Fire Equipment.
• Identify hazards or risks to employees or third parties and review these periodically
• Provide a safe school for the staff and children as far as is reasonably practicable
• Ensure a Health and Safety Representative is appointed on an annual basis (current rep.: Mr. Eoin Browne).

 

2.0 Hazards/Risks

To reduce the risks the following hazards are highlighted together with the suggested means of eliminating or mitigating the risk.

 

2.1 Fire hazards

Fire Drill will be carried out at the start of every school year. Fire extinguishers will be checked on a regular basis and evidence of these checks will be recorded. (Mr. Pat Clarke from Glenamaddy is the outside agent who carries out the maintenance on this equipment.) All fire extinguishers will be accessible at all times and will be highlighted. Exits and entrances will be kept un‑locked during normal operating hours and adequately signposted. Procedures for Fire Drill are attached. (See Fire Safety Policy)

 

2.2 Electrical Equipment (see Appendix F)

The following precautions will apply:

All live parts will be adequately covered. Precautions will be taken by earthing and automatic disconnection in the event of a fault, to prevent danger from any electrocution. Due practices will be complied with in choosing and using electrical portable tools.

Note: Only appropriately qualified and trained personnel will work on the installation/repair of electrical equipment and circuits e.g sockets and lighting circuits and switches. (Mr. Tony Dwyer is the electrician who looks after all our needs in this regard.)

 

2.3 Work Equipment

All machinery will be used in line with safety instructions provided and manufacturers specifications. Paper shredders, photocopiers, fax machines, printing machines etc. will be used in accordance with safety instructions and suppliers instructions and will be maintained in good condition at all times. Employees should take all due care when using ladders or climbing. Defects to equipment will be reported to the Health & Safety Representative/Officer and will be repaired or serviced by qualified persons only.

 

2.4 Work areas, Classrooms, School corridors etc.

Staff will be responsible to keep classrooms and work areas safe and free of all hazards, eg, school bags that might trip people. This also includes careful storage of sharp implements, art equipment, like blades, and potentially dangerous products.

 

It is the responsibility of management to provide a healthy working environment for employees. It is the responsibility of employees to use facilities provided by management to ensure a healthy environment is maintained for children and adults e.g. correct ventilation, temperature, lighting etc.

 

2.6 Floor Surfaces

Floor surfaces will be constantly inspected by staff and tripping hazards corrected. Spillages of all liquids will be cleared up immediately. Serious spillages will be reported to the Principal and he will deal with it.

 

2.7 Delph

Broken or chipped delph, pottery or glassware will be disposed of immediately.

 

2.8 Goalposts

Where possible, goalposts will be pegged down, ie, on the grass, or if on the tar mac, they will be weighted down, to avoid them falling over.

 

2.0 REPORTING/RECORDING:

It is the responsibility of employees to report any hazards/risks, problems or concerns. However, children are also encouraged to take an active role in ensuring that safety standards are met and upheld, by reporting any potential hazards they may notice, inside or out, to a Staff member.

 

Staff members are requested to take appropriate action to sort any problem they can. If the problem is of a more serious nature, they should report it to the Principal for sorting.

 

All incidents will be recorded in writing by the staff member/s involved and passed on to the Health and Safety Representative. The Health and Safety Representative records the account. A report is passed to the B.O.M. if deemed necessary by the Health and Safety Representative. The Health and Safety Officer appointed by the B.O.M. will subsequently deal with the matter.

 

Addendum:

Due to Covid 19, additional measures will be put in place to keep pupils, staff and the school community as safe as possible. These are to be found in the school’s Covid Response Plan.

 

Signed:                    Date: 28-08-2020